Personal Narrative: High School Golf Team

The sound of my alarm buzzed while I struggled to get out of bed. I wiped my eyes and got out of bed. My mind was packed with thoughts and emotions. That day was a very special day for me. I had prepared for that day for months if not years. Just thinking about it, made me nervous. It was tryout day for the high school golf team. Even though I was on varsity since freshman year, I was still nervous because there was always the possibility that you can get booted if your performance is sub-par. After staring at the wall for a solid minute, I shook myself out of the trance I was in and continued with my routine. Minutes passed, and I was ready to go to school. I loaded my car up with my clubs and started for school. I had a hard time keeping

my eyes on the road as my thoughts were everywhere. What happens if I forget how to hit a ball? Who is going to make the team this year? These thoughts constantly appeared my mind.
After a drive that felt like lasted for hours, I arrived at school. I took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. All I had to do is endure 7 periods and then it would be time. I arrived to 1st period in the nick of time. It was history class and we were learning about the Egyptians. I started to daydream as I envisioned the first hole on the golf course. It was a 400-yard par 4 that was straight down hill. I envisioned my shot. I saw the intense stare of my coach. My coach was Mr. Freedland. Mr. Freedland was a tall, muscular man. He always wore proper golf attire and snapped at you if you shirt was not tucked in. He was an ex-pro that even after 20 years could still hit the ball better than anybody on the team. He didn’t take favorites. If you were good, you were on the team. I was awoken by my friends hand. It was my good friend Bill. Bill was a golfer that was a little bit worse than me but was still on the team with me for the last few years. He was a nice guy that I enjoyed playing with. Bill was also participating the tryouts with me. As he shook my arm he said, “You okay man? I noticed you are a little out of it today.” “Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little nervous about the tryouts. What if I don’t make it?” I responded. “You will be fine,” whispered Bill. I took those words to heart and tried to power through the rest of my classes.
School ended, and I arrived at the golf course.

We were all greeted by Mr. Freedland, “Welcome guys, I am Mr. Freedland and I am the golf coach. Today, you guys are going to play 9 holes to determine your place on this golf team. I see there are 13 of you gentlemen here today. Unfortunately, only 12 can make the team. One of you guys will be going home today.” I was pretty scared. There were the same 12 people as last year, but there was one new player. His name was Ryan. Ryan came from Montana and it was his first year trying out on the team. I talked to him a few times and I found out that he was around the same skill level as Bill. We made our way to the first hole and Mr. Freedland announced our pairings. I was set to play with Bill and Ryan. I was pretty excited. Many holes later, I had a good round going. I knew I was going to make the team. Bill and Ryan though, were neck and neck. It was the ninth hole and it was time to tee off. I hit a slight draw and it landed straight down the middle. Bill was next. he took struck his ball kind of off and his ball flew over a tree where we could not see where it went. He hit into an area marked with out of bounds stakes. Ryan hit a straight ball down the middle. When we got up to the area where Bill hit his ball, we could not find it. We searched in the dense bushes and came up with nothing. We all stopped searching and agreed that Bill will take a penalty. Ryan started walking to the ball. I turned toward my ball also and

out of the corner of my eye, I see a white object fall the ground. Bill then shouted, “I found my ball! It is so weird that we all missed it” I just saw Bill cheat. Ryan hit his ball into the woods and took a penalty. Bill ended up making par and Ryan ended up making bogey. Mr. Freedland looked at the scores and announced the results, “Good job boys. It seems like Ryan has the highest score. I’m sorry Ryan, you did not make the team.” I felt sick to my stomach. I saw Bill cheat right in front of my face and didn’t say anything about it. Now, Bill is going to make the team and Ryan is going to go home thinking he made the highest score. I was in a horrible situation. Bill was one my best friends and I couldn’t imagine a season without him. The problem was that he blatantly cheated. It was not fair to Ryan. I had to make a decision. I made an excuse to go to the restroom walked away from the team. I washed my face and paced wildly as I pondered my decision. The fate whether Ryan is on or off the team was in my hands. If I told on Bill, there is no way he was going to stay on the team. I walked out of the bathroom with a decision. Everybody was packing up and heading to their cars. I caught up to Mr. Freedman and started talking with him, “Umm, I have something I would like to say” “What is it?” Mr. Freedland said curiously. “I think Bill cheated. It was on the 9th hole. His drive went behind the blind corner. We were all searching for it but gave up. We were all going back to our balls after we agreed Bill would take a penalty. I looked back and saw him drop a ball and claim he found his original” I said hesitantly. “Wow, this is very important. I will change the roster immediately. Bill is off my team. We don’t accept cheaters. Ryan will take his spot,” Mr. Freedland said boldly. After that talk, we the whole team met together and the news was spread. Bill was furious and Ryan was now on the team. In the end, I am very happy about how that event turned out. I made the right decision. If Bill cheated, he could have cheated more in the season. This could lead to penalties and even get our team disqualified in tournaments. Ryan is an amazing addition to our team and I don’t feel the least bit of regret for telling the truth.